May 2003
2003.05.23
DoubleTalk on Taxes
07:36 PM PST :: comments: 2I feel like neither liberals nor conservatives do a decent job of talking about taxes. Liberals usually start off with the charge that tax cuts benefit the rich far more than anybody else. Conservatives fire back that it's the rich who are paying most of the taxes to begin with and that thus, any fair tax would benefit the rich more than the poor. (a short and easy to understand example of this kind of response) [more]
-wink
What I think is going on in Matrix: Reloaded
03:56 PM PST :: comments: 4So here's what I think is going on with Matrix II. (SPOILERS AHEAD - DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW) [more]
-wink
Media Consolidation
01:45 PM PST :: comments: 0A quote from Howard Dean (via Lawrence Lessig): For me, when the Cumulus Corporation, which owns a lot of radio stations, kicked the Dixie Chicks off their networks a couple hundred radio stations I realized that media corporations have too much power.
Media consolidation will result in something akin to a one-party democracy. Go to Move On to see how you can do something about it. See also the daily blogs of Lawrence Lessig and Dan Gillmore.
-wink
2003.05.22
Silly, but fun
12:24 AM PST :: comments: 1Check out this 404 page.
-wink
2003.05.21
Back Home
05:42 PM PST :: comments: 0I'm back from my little trip to the East Coast. Despite having lived in Portland for almost two years now (and loving it as well), New England still feels like home. I flew in to T. F. Green airport (Providence, RI) and immediately felt comfortable. The whiteboards outside the restaurants advertised clam chowder. The air smelled right. The ambient sounds hit the right frequency. The architecture was--normal. The subtle rhythms of social interaction slid into grooves that are deeply ingrained into my soul and tongue and eyes. I think that no other place in the world will ever feel quite as natural to me as New England is.
Nine years of going to school, volunteering, working, and living in Providence. Later in my trip, I took a 5 hour walk around the city. Never once did I have to think about where I was going. My feet and unconscious simply took me to where I wanted to go.
Home sweet home.
Anyways...the reason for flying out the the East Coast was for a wedding. My roommate of four years got married on Saturday. Congrats S! I was a groomsman. As was another roommate of four years, J. (We were all groomsmen at each others respective weddings--but never best-man. A nice little piece of symmetry there.) The wedding was simple but elegant. Everything went well except for the little matter of the groom collapsing out of nervousness while putting the ring on the bride's finger. 20 minutes, a cup of cold water, and a bathroom break later, the final 2 minutes of the ceremony were performed. The bride was surprisingly cool and gracious.
Congratulations S! May your marriage be less nerve wracking than your wedding.
I spent Sunday having one of the most blessedly beautiful spring days ever. Pleasantly warm without ever being hot. I started off the day with brunch at the Rue de l'espoir. I don't care how much people say that dinner there is great--I've never had dinner there--to me, this place is brunch. With hands down the best scones and chai I've ever had anywhere, I pretty much extended my stay in Providence just so that I could eat there. Throw in home fries that are somehow perfectly crispy and yet instantly dissolve on your tongue and any of a dozen to die for entrees, and well, what are you waiting for? If you are anywhere in the Providence area, go get yourself the best breakfast you've ever had.
After stuffing myself, I wandered around my alma mater and soaked in memories. I took in the occasional new building with interest and visited all my favorite trees. I watched breakdancers do amazing things with their bodies. I remembered that people in Providence get a little carried away in the first few warm days of the year when I noticed a topless sunbather. I walked and shopped and read and people watched. Then I got together with some friends for dinner and talked into the wee hours. I flew back to Portland on Monday.
So now I'm home again. (In one sense, though not another.)
-wink